Winthrop Partners Weekly Update 8-29-19

Written by Tom Saunders on August 26, 2019

The Markets (as of market close August 23, 2019)
Stock gains enjoyed earlier last week were lost by week’s end on ramped-up trade war rhetoric from the White House. Stocks surged earlier in the week on favorable earnings reports from some major retailers and a renewed commitment from the Federal Reserve to act accordingly in heading off a possible recession. Following China’s announcement that it would raise tariffs on U.S. imports, including a 25% tax on American-made autos, President Trump fired back, ordering domestic companies to start looking for an alternative to China. By last Friday, each of the benchmark indexes fell notably, led by the Russell 2000, which dropped over 2.25%, and the Nasdaq, which lost almost 2.00%.
Oil prices fell last week, closing at $53.89 per barrel by late Friday afternoon, down from the prior week’s price of $54.94. The price of gold (COMEX) advanced again last week, closing at $1,537.20 by late Friday afternoon, up from the prior week’s price of $1,523.60. The national average retail regular gasoline price was $2.598 per gallon on August 19, 2019, $0.026 lower than the prior week’s price and $0.223 less than a year ago. Click here for more:Winthrop Partners weekly update 8-26-19